


To Train or Not To Train

by Saffhen232



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Aged-Up AU, Bittersweet, Depression, Gen, Steven not ready for his little girl to grow up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 23:57:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11862342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saffhen232/pseuds/Saffhen232
Summary: Steven does not want his daughter to feel like she has to fight and would rather she stay safe, away from the fighting.  Connie believes that the best way to protect her is to have her learn how to protect herself.





	To Train or Not To Train

**Author's Note:**

> I thought I was just going to do a bittersweet connverse piece because I wanted to make them argue like a married couple, then it escalated from there. This was also copy and pasted from a word document so I am not sure how it will look when it is up.

“I said no,” Steven stated, his voice hinting that he was growing frustrated with the topic that Connie has been pushing for months.  
  
“Come on, Steven. I understand your concern but it will be for the best in the end,” Connie continued, wanting to get one last push in the argument.  
  
“I don’t want her to know any more than she should. She’s only twelve.”  
  
“Says the guy who knew more than that and seen much more dangerous things when he was younger,” Connie scoffed back.  
  
Steven rarely gets frustrated like this, over something that was not taking place in the middle of a battle. He clenched his jaw and tried to take a calming breath to steady himself. It was late and their daughter had just gone to bed.  
  
“Please understand, Connie, I don’t want her to feel like she has to jump in because she can. Seeing one person nearly die is bad enough. But if something happens to our daughter, I don’t know what I would do.”  
  
“She is my daughter, too, you dork. But it would be better if she learned to defend herself. You can’t always be there to protect her,” Connie attempted to argue again.  
  
Her last words sparked a memory within Steven. He was reminded of all those years ago when Pearl began training Connie. How Pearl said nearly the same thing, that Steven would not always be there to protect her. His eyes darkened as he recalled how terrified he was that Pearl was turning Connie into a mirror copy of herself. How she was conditioning Connie to throw her life away without a second thought just to keep Steven safe.  
  
“Watch me,” Steven practically growled back.  
  
“You thick headed clod!” Connie’s voice began to unconsciously raise as she used Peridot’s insult that had rubbed off on her, “At least tell her the full story about the monsters we keep fighting. She has a right to know that much!”  
  
“I said no, Connie! She is better off not knowing about…” Steven trailed off as he heard a door creak open.  
  
The two freeze on the spot and turn in the direction of the now opened door. Standing there, sleepy eyed in her pajamas was a young girl. Her dark hair a slight mess as she asked out, sleepily, “Dad, why are you and mom fighting?”  
  
“Kari, sweetie, sorry about that, we didn’t mean to wake you. Your mom and I aren’t fighting, we’re just having a grown-up discussion. Go back to bed now,” Steven explained to his daughter as he walked over to her and motioned her to go back to bed.  
  
Still in a daze, Kari followed. Steven then turned around and gave Connie a look that said for her to drop the topic. But Connie would have none of that. She knows just how dangerous things can be for a human in a gem world. She also knows just how strong her daughter can be. The argument may be over for the night, but there was no way Connie was going to agree with Steven in having their daughter remain a helpless little girl forever.

 

 

“Pearl, I need a favor,” Connie asked the next morning.  
  
“What is it?” the swordswoman of the Crystal Gems asked.  
  
“Don’t tell Steven, but I need your help in training Kari how to fight. He won’t budge on the matter and I feel it is not the best idea to leave her helpless should things get to that point.”  
  
Pearl was taken aback by the request a little bit. Sure, she agreed with her former student that it is always best to be prepared for the worst case scenario, but she had the feeling nagging at the back of her head that her little granddaughter should not be in harm’s way to begin with.  
  
“Are you sure about that?” the Gem inquired.  
  
“I am. I don’t plan to have her charge in with either Steven or I in a fight, but there are other things out there in the world that might not be as dangerous as monsters yet could still hurt her. Despite what Steven thinks, he can’t always be there to protect her. I merely want her to be ready in case something happens and neither one of us can step in.”  
  
Still unsure about the idea, Pearl proceeded to nod in agreement.  
  
“Alright, though I may share Steven’s sentiment of keeping her away from the fighting, I also agree with you that she may need to learn to protect herself. I’ve seen more of humanity than I would care to share and I know all too well there are things out there that are far worse than what we have ever faced.”  
  
Connie smiled, “Thanks, Pearl. I knew I could count on you for help.”

 

   
Kari fell to the ground of the sky arena, a sweating, exhausted mess. She had been training with Gemma Pearl for weeks now. Yet despite that, she feels she can never measure up to either Gemma Pearl or her mother. She had begun to doubt herself, that she just isn’t strong enough to protect anything, let alone herself. She had been told to keep these sessions a secret from her father. She continues to wonder why.  
  
“Again,” Gemma Pearl instructed as Kari continued to try and catch her breath.  
  
Kari knows it is for the best, yet she can’t help but to shiver at her gemma’s words. She loves her gemmas but she always gets a bit uncomfortable during her training lessons with Pearl because of her stern, nearly icy gaze that she uses when she is focused. It scared her sometimes, to the point where she would give everything her all in the hopes of softening that hard stare of hers. But today, Kari was at her limit.  
  
“I can’t, Gemma.”  
  
“What was that?”  
  
“I can’t do this, Gemma! I just can’t anymore!” Kari cried out.  
  
Pearl was about to scold her student, but stopped short when she saw that she was about to make her granddaughter cry. She was never the best when it came to emotional moments like these.  
  
“Kari, I’m sorry. We-we can stop for today if you like,” Pearl hastily said, trying to defuse the situation.  
  
Kari sniffed and nodded as a few tears of frustration and sadness rolled down her cheeks.  
  
The two walked to the warp pad and after a flash of light and the simultaneous feeling of falling and flying later, they were back at the house.  
  
“I’ll go make you some tea, okay, sweetie?” Pearl said to Kari, wondering if maybe she pushed her to hard this time.  
  
Kari only nodded again, not yet sure if she can trust her voice enough to speak.  
  
Pearl made a bee line for the kitchen to prepare some tea in the hopes of calming Kari a bit while she went and got cleaned up before Steven could see her. When Kari returned, Pearl handed Kari her favorite mug before disappearing into the temple.  
  
_“What is the matter with me?”_ Kari wondered to herself _“Maybe I not as good as mom thinks I am,”_ she considered as she began to sink further into her self-loathing.  
  
“May I join you?”  
  
Startled from her thoughts, Kari looked up and saw a tall woman with a square hairdo wearing a visor like pair of sunglasses stand over her.  
  
“Oh! Gemma Garnet! No-I mean, of course. Yes, you can join me,” Kari managed to say as she stumbled over her words.  
  
“Pearl told me you had a rough time during training today,” Garnet began as she sat down, “Would you like to talk about it?”  
  
“Well…” Kari hesitated, not sure if it is the best idea of unload her own problems on someone else, even family. But with a sigh she resigned herself to opening up to her Gemma Garnet. No matter what, she knows she can tell her anything and that her advice will always hold the best insight because of her future vision.  
  
“I just don’t feel like I’m as strong as mom or Gemma Pearl think I am. I always feel like I’m not doing enough during training and that I’m disappointing both of them. They tell me to not tell dad about the training but won’t tell me why. I just feel like I’m wasting everyone’s time with this,” Kari explained as she began to hug her knees close to her chest, the tears falling once again down her face as she went.  
  
Garnet was silent for a moment, taking the time to take in what her little granddaughter had said before placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder and bring her in for a hug.  
  
“You are not wasting anyone’s time. Don’t think that for a moment. Your mother wants to keep Steven in the dark on this because she wants you to be able to defend yourself should you need to. Your father is determined to keep you in the dark about the fighting and doesn’t want you to get hurt by keeping you as far as he can from it. All fathers are like that. But your mother knows that you can’t always have someone around to protect you all the time.”  
  
“But what if I do, though? What if I can’t be strong and tough like mom and dad are to do anything?” Kari asked.  
  
“Do you know why your mother named you Kari?”  
  
She shook her head.  
  
“Because,” Garnet began, wiping away the tears from Kari’s eyes, “your name means strong woman in the Earth language of Hindu. She didn’t give you that name in the hopes that you would grow into it but because she knew that is what you are, a strong woman. If you ever think that you are not strong enough, remember what your name means and know that you are already strong. Strong where it counts. Strong in the real way. Can you do that for me, cutie pie?” Garnet asked, raising Kari’s chin up so that she can look her in the eye.  
  
For the first time in a while, Kari was feeling fired up. She still felt like she hadn’t grown stronger, but she started to notice that she was getting better.  
  
“Okay, I will,” Kari agreed with a smile starting to take form on her face. She gave Garnet a hug, “Thanks for listening, Gemma.”  
  
“Anytime,” Garnet replied with her own hug in return.  
 

 

“Connie! Watch out!” Steven cried out in a panic as the attacking gem monster nearly took off his wife’s head. His warning allowed her to evade the creature’s swipe just barely but left him distracted from the being’s next strike that hit him on the side of his head, putting him in a daze.  
  
“Steven!” Connie shrieked as she saw her husband crumple to the ground from the blow knocking him out. She raced to his side, to defend him until the others could arrive to help them.  
  
This monster came out of nowhere, as they always do. The rest of the Crystal Gems were away on another mission, making Connie curse their luck at the rather coincidental timing of their situation. She glances back at Steven to make sure he was okay, leaving her wide open for the monster’s attack. Although she was quick to avoid the swipe, the monster managed to knock Rose’s sword out of her hand, leaving Connie unarmed and fearing the worst.  
  
“Leave them alone!”  
  
Connie looked to the source of the outburst and saw Kari, Rose’s sword in her hands.  
  
“Kari! No! Run!” Connie yelled at her child.  
  
Kari did not move. She grasped the sword firmly in her hand as she tried to stare down the beast. Connie could see the fear in her daughter’s eyes, yet there was also determination as well. The monster, its attention now on the young girl, began charging at her.  
  
“Kari! Run!” Connie cried out a final time, fearing she was about to lose her daughter and beginning to think that maybe teaching her to fight gave her some false confidence after all.  
  
As the creature neared, Kari positioned herself to prepare to strike. Her body tensing as adrenaline began coursing through her. She dodges the monster and slices it smoothly along the side. The beast howled in pain as it turned and snarled at Kari.  
  
Seeing her daughter move like that put Connie’s fears to rest. She was doing much better than Connie had expected. Upon hearing a groan behind her, she turned around and saw Steven slowly get back on his feet, staggering a bit as he tried to collect his bearings.  
  
“Are you okay?” Connie asked as she steadied her husband.  
  
“I-I’m fine. I’m good,” Steven said as he gave her a reassuring smile. Looking up, it immediately fell away, “Kari! What are you doing?!”  
  
“She is trying to help us,” Connie explained.  
  
Steven gave Connie a hard look, “This was your idea, wasn’t it?”  
  
“Can we have this argument later? After we help our daughter?!” Connie inquired, exasperation hinting her voice.  
  
Steven grunted in defiant agreement as he summoned up his shield.  
  
Connie ran up ahead to help her daughter.  
  
“Kari, sword!” Connie yelled.  
  
Kari threw the weapon to her mother and withdrew her own blade that she had been carrying on her person. The monster grew frantic, knowing that it was outnumbered and as well as surrounded. It began moving in an unpredictable fashion, making it harder for either of them to think ahead and prepare for a counterattack. The monster lunged at Kari, deciding that going after the smaller one would allow it the best chance to escape. Steven rushed to shield his daughter but he was still uncoordinated from the blow earlier, making him lose his footing in the sand and fall. All he could do was watch as his daughter looked like she might be killed. His heart sank as the world seemed to go in slow motion, seeing every detail vividly in his eyes.  
  
Yet, just as Connie had witnessed, he saw confidence in her eyes as she moved with control and precision to strike at the beast. He saw the blade pierce the being’s side, causing it to lose its form. He was still shocked by the results when Kari came up to him, the corrupted gem in her hands for him to bubble.  
  
“Kari? Where-when did you learn to do that?” Steven managed to ask as he sent the bubble away.  
  
“Gemma Pearl taught me,” Kari replied, a bit embarrassed, “You’re not mad at her, are you?”  
  
“Are you kidding? That was awesome, sweetie!” Steven went on, very impressed and a bit proud as well.  
  
“Still think it’s a bad idea to have her learn to defend herself?” Connie asked, being very smug about the whole reveal.  
  
Steven looked at his wife for a moment and laughed.  
  
“Okay. Okay, you were right. You are always right. I can’t always protect my little girl. I’ll try and listen to you more, okay, Strawberry?”  
  
Connie’s smug face fell away, replaced with a blushing face. “Steven, not in front of Kari.”  
  
Steven began bellowing with laughter.  
  
“Come on, girls. Help me inside so we can call Grandma Priyanka for a quick check up, okay?”  
  
Connie placed her husband’s arm over her shoulders and helped hoist him up, “Whatever you say, Biscuit,” Connie teased back.  
  
“Mom, please,” Kari whined, exasperated.


End file.
